Church Easter Party

We went to our church Easter party this past weekend.  It was a pancake breakfast + Easter egg hunt. Originally we were going to have it at a park but the weather forecast said it was going to be 32 degrees at the start of the party, so we we ended up at the church building instead.  Here are Scott and Emma either waiting for pancakes or getting ready for an egg hunt.  Emma didn't look for any eggs.  Maybe next year when she can walk.

The little guys got to go out first and hunt for eggs.  They started everyone out just getting 10 eggs so everyone would be able to find enough.

 Grant knew just what to do - an old pro.

Find eggs.  Put eggs in basket.

John was a little confused.  First he picked up one egg and didn't know what to do with it.  Then he tried throwing it in his basket but missed.  Then he picked up a new one and abandoned his basket so he could pick up another.  Once I showed him how to get them in the basket he liked it more.  He helped me count up his 10 eggs.

First they let nursery age kids and sunbeams go (John and Grant respectively).  Then junior primary got a turn (about 5-7 year olds).  So that was Anna!  Anna is also a seasoned vet of Easter egg hunting.  It didn't take her long to get her 10 eggs.

By 10 or so it was a bit warmer outside. 

 Anna with her loot

 And last the senior primary got to go (about 8 - 11 year olds)

 Here is Matthew with one of his best church buddies, Allison

She used to be in his school class last year but this year they are in different classes.

Still church friends though.

 And then the hunt!

After the senior primary kids found 10 eggs a piece they let the younger kids (and the older) come out to get 10 more a piece, since they had lots of extras.

Matthew with some of his eggs.  It was a fun activity.  They had the kids empty out their Easter eggs, keep the candy and return the plastic eggs for use again next year.  Good idea!  Happy Easter!!

The City Museum

The kids had a very random day off school this past Wednesday so we took a family trip to The City Museum in St. Louis.  The City Museum is unlike anything I've ever seen before.  It's a huge building filled with tunnels, climbing structures, slides and more all made from old building materials from St. Louis.  It's great for active kids (and active teenagers and adults)!!  If you have any interest in architecture it's pretty cool from that perspective too.  It is both the coolest place you've ever seen and completely terrifying if you are trying to keep track of kids.  But we all made it out, mostly unscathed.

From the outside the building doesn't look that impressive, although you can see part of a ferris wheel and water tower peeking up from the roof. The rooftop was closed that day - not open until summer.

 Just inside the museum getting our wristbands.

You can already see some of the old St. Louis architecture

The first floor was dark and had lots of tunnels and slides to explore, plus an old log cabin.  Anna was terrified and wouldn't venture into any of the dark tunnels.  Now I know you should bring small flashlights for the kids.  Matthew and Grant, unafraid, took off into the first tunnel they could find, emerging much later in a completely different place.  Luckily Matthew watched out for Grant and helped him along.

 Anna, John and I checking out a big turtle.
Pretty much everything there you could climb on.

 We found a slide that Anna thought wasn't too scary.  Here's John on the slide.

 And Anna climbing up the stairs to it.

 More things to climb

 Scott with Emma waiting for us while we go on the monster slide.

 Anna ready to slide down

 We found a giant ball pit

 Some of the things to climb on outside

 Scott carried Emma the whole time.  Emma was a good sport and didn't fuss too much.

 Grant climbing on the grating over the ball pit.  He wasn't even scared.

 Matthew and Grant climbing in a tunnel right above me.

 Another cool slide the boys liked

 Some giant, roller, spinny chairs

 Grant and Matthew climbing 

 We found an indoor skate park area - but no skateboards - just for running on.  So fun!

Here's Anna trying to climb up on it.

 Here are a lot more pictures of us at the skate park place.  We were there for a while.

 Grant running up the half pipe wall back there

 Anna and Grant

 John kept sliding down the wall and then just laying there.  He was getting tired.

 Here is blurry John just laying there after his slide.

 And he's back up!

 Anna sliding

 Matthew at the opening of one of the tunnels

And here we are ready to go home.  No one was happy to go home.  Maybe we can go back another day.  I think there was still a lot that we didn't see!!  We didn't lose anyone and I didn't get caught in any small crawly spaces so I'm counting it as a win!

Blue and Gold Banquet

Matthew is in Cub Scouts now and he is very excited about it.  He has only been going for a few weeks (since he turned 8) but he likes it a lot.  He just missed the Pinewood Derby but got to go to the Blue and Gold Banquet this year.

I was a cub scout leader when we lived in Colorado and had mixed feelings about it.  The boys I worked with were great, but some of the leaders (or leader expectations) and the BSA admin stuff got annoying.  I learned a lot about scouts though and fully expect I will probably be doing scouts again some day.  We'll see.  I was glad to be off the hook for this one though.  I am the primary presidency member over scouts for our ward, but I didn't have to do much for this event.  Nice.

And they did a great job.  They picked a wild west Wanted theme.  It was very cute.  Each boy had a reward poster.  Here's Matthew's.  His reward was only $1.  He must not be that dangerous.

 

Our ward is not very big so the scouts from the two wards (congregations) that meet in our building meet together for scouts.  So Matthew got to meet some new boys when he joined scouts.

 Matthew in his uniform

They had horse race relays.  And they let all the siblings participate once the scouts were done.  Everyone loved it.  They did some skits and sang songs.  And handed out awards.

 Matthew earned his Bobcat badge.  Here he is pinning the Bobcat pin on me.

We tried to get a picture of him shaking hands with the leaders, but it turned out kinda blurry.

He's too quick for me.

They served sloppy joes, baked beans and potato chips.  They also had barrel shaped punch drinks, water and cupcakes for dessert.  I was taking notes and taking pictures of everything...just in case I need a blue and gold idea down the line somewhere.

See pictures from blue and golds I've been involved with HERE and HERE.  I think his one was better just by virtue of being simpler.  Or maybe I just feel that way because I didn't have to plan it.  :)

Happy Birthday Scott!!

We had an impromptu birthday celebration for Scott while all the relatives were here (a few days early).  I didn't get any pictures, but it was quite the celebration.  ;)  Here are a few pictures from his actual birthday.  My parents watched the boys while Scott and I went to lunch at Tucano's - a Brazilian place.  That's my Brazilian lemonade sitting there.  There was a lot of meat involved in this lunch!  We survived.

 The kids helped me make this chocolate bundt cake for Scott

It looks like a giant donut here, but it tasted pretty good.

I used this recipe, which I love.

And then Grant, who wanted to pretend to be a mailman that day (actually the UPS guy) "delivered" all of Scott's birthday presents in a laundry basket.  It was quite the exciting entrance.  Here is Scott opening gifts.  And that's John coughing on him in the background.

 John and Grant want to get in on the birthday present excitement

We all had cake and a great time celebrating Scott's birthday!!